Let me try to explain my 2009 proposal for dealing with the uninsured in terms that Jerry Kilcourse can grasp.

If/when you have occasion to consume medical services, you will be responsible for paying the cost, just like you are after receiving a haircut.

You can choose to gamble on continued good health, or set aside dollars to pay for future services, or plan to pass the hat to enable you to pay for what you consumed, join an HMO or a health care co-op, or buy an insurance contract whereby an insurer agrees to pay in case you incur a specified claim.

Nowhere would you face an Obamacare tax or penalty for not choosing to buying insurance. You’d face up to your own responsibility, however you chose to meet it.

What you wouldn’t be able to do, however, is choose your lifestyle and risks, consume a lot of medical services, and expect the government to coerce the taxpayers into providing the money to pay your bills.